


Third Wheel

by mysteriol



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII Remake Spoilers, Gen, Introspection, Romance, Tifa's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteriol/pseuds/mysteriol
Summary: Tifa would have never thought herself the jealous type, until she came along.“…that’s all there is to it? Sure there isn’t something else going on?” Tifa asked.And something unexpected happened.…He had stuttered, unable to answer.[Cloud x Aerith, FFVII Remake, based on ch10 sewer scene and more, Tifa's POV ]
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 5
Kudos: 145





	Third Wheel

**Author's Note:**

> a/n:  
> Inspired by the sewer scene in Chapter 10 when you choose to wake either Tifa or Aerith.  
> In this scenario, Cloud wakes Tifa first. My interpretation of it. Also includes the train graveyard scene where Aerith gets taken away by the ghosts, and the Chapter 14 scene of raiding Shinra HQ. (Taking the stairs - anyone? ) Ah.. also includes the scene Aerith and Tifa first met in Don Corneo’s den wearing their fancy dresses.  
> In other words…many remake spoilers- proceed with caution. 
> 
> **Disclaimer: although written in Tifa’s POV, I have am not anti-Tifa. I’m too old for that sort of fandom wars … so please. There is no character bashing of Tifa here at all, I have no such intentions. Take it as you will.**  
>  Also no beta-read so don’t flame too much. At my age I am crooked, old and claim all right to be lazy. 
> 
> Myst-san

Naturally, Tifa had asked Cloud how him and Aerith met, out of curiosity.

Or so she thought.

It sounded like a simple question really. “How do you two know each other?” 

She had asked with no other intentions. Just curious, really. Just like if Cloud was to meet any other female stranger and next thing found them going on adventures together…like saving her from the grips of Don Corneo, for one.

It was dark, smelly and dingy in the sewers where they were stuck in now. Tifa had expected a stoic, nonchalant answer from Cloud. Then they could just quickly move on and get the hell out of here. 

But what she had _not_ anticipated, was how Cloud’s Mako-infused eyes never left Aerith’s fallen form beside them even as they were conversing. Something, Tifa was certain, had flickered in those eyes of his.

Something else was amiss – that usual hard edge of his tone…was notably missing as he answered Tifa’s question about Aerith; how they had saved each other’s lives, and so round and round it goes. 

TIfa chanced a closer look at Cloud’s gaze, still lingering at Aerith.

_Did his face…softened?_

Considerably much so, without a doubt.

Tifa dared to sneak a glance in Aerith’s direction.

Something pricked at her heart. Tifa had no idea what to make out of it.

All she wanted to know was what Cloud found so interesting in that tiny-sized lady with brown hair and a pink ribbon through burgundy tresses.

All her years knowing Cloud, she had never seen him cast a glance like this in anyone else’s direction.

Something ate at her insides.

_Wow…She was jealous._

Envious? Perhaps. Maybe.

Tifa had been used to a childhood growing up among men who paid her more than enough attention. Unlike other women her age who went through the awkward stages of puberty, she had been genetically blessed to blossom since adolescence. She grew up through her teenage years with the same long thick jet black hair, big eyes… She took pride in her fitness, in being kept in great shape. She wasn’t blind to the undying devotion of many men who noticed her, who looked her way. Men never kept it a secret of how awe-struck Tifa had always left them trailing in her wake. She certainly wasn’t oblivious to the attention the opposite gender lavished on her.

…Yet moments ago in Don Corneo’s den when she had for the first time met Aerith who was wearing that gorgeous shade of red dress, those emerald eyes of hers had shone at Tifa with sheer joy and unbridled optimism… completely and utterly snatching Tifa’s breath away. 

By god, Tifa wasn’t insecure of her own looks. But when Aerith stood in front of her, with those red ribbons running through her hair, her frame petite and tiny, her emerald eyes glowing with unfaltering kindness and vibrancy –

_By Midgar, she was beautiful._

Even Tifa herself clad scantily in her cocktail blue dress that left nothing to anyone’s imagination - certainly not Don Corneo or any of his sleazy men – she had felt suddenly self-conscious of how _plain,_ how _casual_ she looked next to the lady in red. Aerith had on the loveliest shade of scarlet eye make-up and manicure. She looked so beautifully done up with her perfectly coiled hair. Her silver shiny sandals clicked against the floor as daintily as her small feet carried her presence everywhere.

In the dark shadows and treacherous walls of Don Corneo’s den, Aerith emerged looking like a doll come to life.

Something uncomfortable gnawed at Tifa’s emotions, threatening to tear her skin under.

Was she… _envious? Insecure?_

She shouldn’t be. Had no right to be. This lady in red, Tifa had believed, would have barely known Cloud over a day or two. So she had brushed it off at that time.

But time passed, and Tifa’s perspective gradually changed.

Tifa wasn’t dense. She was smarter, more observant than most her age. She took pride in her keen sense of eye. She was a fist fighter, and relied on her acute senses to survive after all.

So she hadn’t turn a blind eye. Not to how in sync Cloud and Aerith were with each other. Tifa had noticed how in every battle they had engaged in so far, no matter how pre-occupied Cloud was in destroying the enemy firsthand, he would find a quick second or two to check that Aerith fighting alongside him wasn’t badly injured. If there was an enemy heading for the flower girl’s way – which had happened more than twice or thrice now – Cloud had unthinkably, without missing a beat, jumped right in front of her and unleashed a flurry of attacks at the unfortunate soul.

Their dynamics were reciprocal. A mutual sort of relationship they had going on there, Tifa observed.

If Cloud was beginning to take too much damage from the enemy, Aerith would jump in and heal him promptly. She had in her arsenal a whole lot of curative spells that always did the trick to Cloud’s battle health. These moments, small as they were, were critical in giving Cloud the confidence knowing someone was right at his beck and call, supporting him. In consequence, Tifa had never seen Cloud fought with so much ease and stealth…and trust. 

_…Cloud was relying on Aerith in battles just as much as she on him._

They were so in sync, without saying a word to another. It made Tifa winced. Physically.

…She had never felt so much like a third party, a third wheel…an outsider until now.

So what stemmed from curiosity, or what Tifa thought she had disguised her question as pure curiosity, eventually expanded into something more. She couldn’t help it. In the depths of the sewer, Tifa now looked up at Cloud, whose eyes were still on Aerith. 

“…that’s all there is to it? Sure there isn’t something else going on?” Tifa asked.

And something unexpected happened to the sword fighter. 

…He had stuttered, blinking at Tifa. Unable to answer.

He seemed taken aback, as if not knowing how to respond immediately.

“Uh…” Cloud only managed a syllable.

Tifa’s heart sunk. _So it was true?_

Beside them, Aerith was beginning to wake.

It was useless coaxing him for an explanation now. Cloud was distracted by the flower girl once she stirred awake.

Tifa bit back a sigh- she would try and confirm this…later with Cloud again when she had the time.

For now, they had to survive the sewers and get out of here.

\-------

Tifa by now, had learnt three things about them.

 ** _One_** **,** he was her personal bodyguard. When Aerith had held Cloud’s hand in the train graveyard, she hadn’t bothered to hide the pang of jealousy flashing across her own face.

 ** _Two_** , they had apparently been spending a significant amount of time together at Wall Market. Because now, as she, Barrett and Cloud were moving around the streets of the walled slums, she couldn’t turn a deaf ear to the sounds of strangers whispering behind Cloud’s back.

“Look! It’s Cloud! From the Colosseum!”

“Where’s Aerith!? His girlfriend that fought beside him…she’s so cute!”

“I know! I adore her!”

“Heehee, I placed so many bets on these lovebirds. They didn’t disappoint my money HOHOHO!”

And some locals had been unabashed about it. Saying it right into Cloud’s face.

“Hey Cloud! What brings you here again? Where’s your girlfriend? Brought your friends this time instead, huh!”

“Hey Cloud! Where’s Aerith? Man, you two were awesome in the last fight! I was rootin’ for ya!”

“Cloud! Cloud! What? Where’s yer girl Aerith!?”

“Good to see you, Cloud! Strange to see you without Aerith by your side. Where she gone?”

Tifa wanted to shove her fingers into her ears.

She was _so_ sick of them all – the whispers, the teases. All directed at Cloud…and his…and his ‘girlfriend’. Apparently buster sword guy had left out the part that he and Aerith had been mistaken as a lovey dovey couple by the entire Wall Market! And each time Cloud responded to the locals’ teasings and kind well wishes - bless them- he hadn’t even bother to deny that Aerith wasn’t any sort of girlfriend, much less _his._

Cloud had just left those rumors unaddressed. Hadn’t seemed to mind.

What had began as jealousy, now had blossomed ugly in the pit of Tifa’s chest.

Oh, and **_fact number three_** that Tifa had learnt about Cloud and Aerith?

That he would risk his bloody life and raid an entire Shinra Headquarter filled to the brim with Shinra soldiers, monsters and whatnot, just to rescue her.

Cloud had gone on and on, saying something about it being his personal duty as her bodyguard, or how he didn’t want to leave just about anyone he knew behind.

Tifa called bullshit on it. 

Seriously…everyone knew from the start that they could have easily sat out on this mission. It was honestly pointless. Did Cloud really think they could infiltrate an entire Shinra HQ to rescue Aerith? No personal grudge, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It was suicide.

Judging by how Barrett had grunted in exasperation, the big man definitely was on Tifa’s page on this one.

Cloud’s adamancy had abolished all other alternative choice of actions.

“The priority is to save Aerith.” He had said with a tone of finality.

Something flashed in TIfa’s head.

That memory at the train graveyard the other day…When the ghosts had taken away Aerith. It had spooked the daylights out of Tifa and she had thought this was it – Aerith had been taken away by the ghosts for good just like all the myths and stories have been spot on about.

But that look of sheer panic Tifa had witnessed fleeting through Cloud’s eyes was unmistakable.

Sure, Cloud had often covered for Tifa and came to her rescue with worry creasing his forehead each time he had pulled the fist fighter out of danger…

But none of his expressions then could rival…this. 

…This same emotion that spurred him to run around frantically around the train graveyeard shouting like a maniac. “Aerith!! Aerith!! Where are you!?”

He sounded like an unstoppable mad man who had lost something precious to him.

“Aerith!! Answer me if you can hear me!!”

Cloud had ran off on his own, leaving Tifa behind.

TIfa sighed at the memory.

_Obvious, isn’t it?_

That moment had fossilized everything.

Now, as they navigated the stupid, long hard stairs to the top floors of Shinra HQ in search of Aerith, Tifa didn’t know to laugh or cry out loud at the stupidity of their suicidal mission.

It was actually quite funny how much Barrett, Cloud and her was going through hell and heaven back for one flower girl. She loved Aerith as a dear friend, but Tifa couldn’t recall another time accompanying Cloud on a self-destructive mission just to get a friend of theirs back.

_Oh wait._

Except…Aerith wasn’t just a friend.

This, now, she finally understood.

Tifa stopped at the 59th floor to catch her breath, panting.

Aerith might be a dear friend to her…

But she now meant _everything_ , to Cloud Strife.

That…

…was the **_fourth and final fact_** Tifa learnt about them. 

**FIN**

* * *

a/n:

well… this was quite a bit of mess, wasn’t it! ahh nvm. Quite a deviation from my usual lighthearted fics- but I think I was in the mood for something else this time. 😊 Tbh, I hesitated for days publishing this because it's not exactly your mainstream CloudxAerith kinda fic, but well, I do think it's nice to observe Clerith from someone else's eyes, particularly Tifa.

comment/review…so I know our Clerith ship is alive and sailing!

Myst-san


End file.
